(July 28, 2016) Political advertising and the board of directors election crept its way into a budget and finance meeting in Ocean Pines last Wednesday.
Committee member John Viola held up a letter he had received at his home in New York credited to a group called “STOP” (Stop Taxing Ocean Pines). He had asked that discussion of the ad be put onto the agenda for the meeting.
The letter named Budget and Finance Chairwoman Pat Supik as part of “the status quo,” and attributed a quote she made during a candidate forum that the “three-year bottom line is positive” in Ocean Pines.
According to STOP, “audited statements show a deficit for that period of $132,533.”
Supik recused herself from that portion of the meeting, and left the room during the discussion.
“I don’t think this number’s right,” Viola said. “The fact that this was sent out unsigned … I think is unacceptable. I don’t think it’s fair to the residents of Ocean Pines to receive something like this.”
Director Tom Terry, the board liaison to the committee, said the ad “basically skipped last year’s results.” Financial statements from the most recent fiscal year had not yet been audited, he said.
“If you leave out last year, that number may be correct,” he said. “The implication is that it’s the last three years, but I’m fairly sure it’s not. Some of the ads in the papers [also] appear to have left out the results of the most recent past year.”
According to Terry, fiscal year 2016 was “very successful financially” for Ocean Pines.
“This is not fair to residents of Ocean Pines. It’s not in the best interest of Ocean Pines to manipulate numbers to give them something that’s not true,” Viola said. “I think it should be addressed here [and] I also think it should be addressed at a board meeting … this is unacceptable.”
Committee member Jim Beisler said the mailing had not violated any laws.
“It’s unfair, yeah, but so is life,” he said. “I get that thing [and] it goes in the shredder. Bingo. There’s no signature on it [and] the information is questionable. There’s not much we can do about it.”
Committee member Dale Buley suggested the ad was simply “rhetoric.”
“I don’t think it’s worth wasting your time on,” he said. “Just throw it away. You have to be intelligent enough to know that things like that are not true.”
“The point is not just to let it go,” Viola said. “I don’t think this is fair to the residents of Ocean Pines.”
Terry reminded the members that the committee worked in an advisory capacity and that he believed that the board of directors should stay out of the election.
“If somebody wants to waste their own opinion on things, that’s fine. They have no reason not to. But, as an official act of the board, I do not think the board would want to make any kind of official statement one way or another about those kinds of letters [and] those kinds of ads. It’s up to the other candidates to counter them however they want to handle them.
“Just as an individual, I think it’s disappointing that we’re being asked to make decisions on votes based on information that appears to have been contrived,” Terry added.
Several times during the meeting, members of the committee complained that the ad was simply attributed to the STOP group, but not signed by an individual.
In a 2012 candidate interview in the Bayside Gazette, former Director Marty Clarke referred to himself as “the chairman of Stop Taxing Ocean Pines.”
Reached for comment, Clarke said he had not seen the ad and did not have a part in writing it. Clarke did say he was a member of the group, however, and said STOP had asked him to “check numbers.”
Committee member John Viola held up a letter he had received at his home in New York credited to a group called “STOP” (Stop Taxing Ocean Pines). He had asked that discussion of the ad be put onto the agenda for the meeting.
The letter named Budget and Finance Chairwoman Pat Supik as part of “the status quo,” and attributed a quote she made during a candidate forum that the “three-year bottom line is positive” in Ocean Pines.
According to STOP, “audited statements show a deficit for that period of $132,533.”
Supik recused herself from that portion of the meeting, and left the room during the discussion.
“I don’t think this number’s right,” Viola said. “The fact that this was sent out unsigned … I think is unacceptable. I don’t think it’s fair to the residents of Ocean Pines to receive something like this.”
Director Tom Terry, the board liaison to the committee, said the ad “basically skipped last year’s results.” Financial statements from the most recent fiscal year had not yet been audited, he said.
“If you leave out last year, that number may be correct,” he said. “The implication is that it’s the last three years, but I’m fairly sure it’s not. Some of the ads in the papers [also] appear to have left out the results of the most recent past year.”
According to Terry, fiscal year 2016 was “very successful financially” for Ocean Pines.
“This is not fair to residents of Ocean Pines. It’s not in the best interest of Ocean Pines to manipulate numbers to give them something that’s not true,” Viola said. “I think it should be addressed here [and] I also think it should be addressed at a board meeting … this is unacceptable.”
Committee member Jim Beisler said the mailing had not violated any laws.
“It’s unfair, yeah, but so is life,” he said. “I get that thing [and] it goes in the shredder. Bingo. There’s no signature on it [and] the information is questionable. There’s not much we can do about it.”
Committee member Dale Buley suggested the ad was simply “rhetoric.”
“I don’t think it’s worth wasting your time on,” he said. “Just throw it away. You have to be intelligent enough to know that things like that are not true.”
“The point is not just to let it go,” Viola said. “I don’t think this is fair to the residents of Ocean Pines.”
Terry reminded the members that the committee worked in an advisory capacity and that he believed that the board of directors should stay out of the election.
“If somebody wants to waste their own opinion on things, that’s fine. They have no reason not to. But, as an official act of the board, I do not think the board would want to make any kind of official statement one way or another about those kinds of letters [and] those kinds of ads. It’s up to the other candidates to counter them however they want to handle them.
“Just as an individual, I think it’s disappointing that we’re being asked to make decisions on votes based on information that appears to have been contrived,” Terry added.
Several times during the meeting, members of the committee complained that the ad was simply attributed to the STOP group, but not signed by an individual.
In a 2012 candidate interview in the Bayside Gazette, former Director Marty Clarke referred to himself as “the chairman of Stop Taxing Ocean Pines.”
Reached for comment, Clarke said he had not seen the ad and did not have a part in writing it. Clarke did say he was a member of the group, however, and said STOP had asked him to “check numbers.”